Pure black Ebony has been the top choice for fretboards since the 18th century, thanks to its uniform hardness and stability. It has a pretty much neutral tonal response on all the frequencies.

Laminated

Laminated necks are made to increase stiffness and stability; in order to achieve this several stripes of wood (same species or different ones) are arranged in order to counteract each others inner tensions. It also add elegance and beauty to the instruments, creating a symmetrical pattern along the entire neck.

Wenge

Very hard, stiff and brittle. Wenge is a black coloured wood with thin dark brown strikes. The quarter sawn cuts are extremely stable and perfect for dark coloured necks, while slab cuts create intresting patterns that are excellent for eye-catching fretboards. Bright tonal response, mantaining a nice balance through all the frequenciese.

Bubinga

Bubinga is an extremely dense, heavy weight and tight grain wood with a light red to pinkish brown colour. Thanks to its stiffness, stability and nice grain figuring it is a good choice for necks and fretboards. The tonal response is good on all the frequencies, with a pronouced tencency to the highs.
It is an endangered species and listed on Cites B.

Figured Ebony

It has the same properties of the usual Ebony, with the difference of lighter strikes running along the grain, creating eye-catching patterns. The ratio between dark and light parts varies a lot, therefore is recommended to ask for some photos of the pieces in stock.

Flamed Poplar

A good alternative to Flamed Maple for tops. Colour is yellowish and the figuring is wide and three dimensional; it is also lighter compared to Maple. Being used usually as flat or carved top, its tonal properties are negligible.

Padauk

Hard and brittle wood with an orange reddish colour which tends to darken over time.
Being a very stable wood, is perfect for flat tops, and necks. It has a bright tonal response, with a slight low peak in the mids.

Cocobolo

Cocobolo is a dark red with almost black strikes coloured wood. It is from the same family of Rosewood, but it’s deneser, heavier and more oilish. It can be used for killer looking tops or very stable and smooth fretboards, thanks to its stiffness and oil content. Tonal response is similar to Rosewood, although slightly darker.
It is an endangered species and listed on Cites B.

Buckeye Burl

A very soft burl with a stunning figuring; every piece is different and unique. Being used usually as flat or slightly carved top, its tonal properties are negligible.

Swamp Ash

Swamp Ash it is not and actual subspieces of Ash, but it refers to all the trees that grow in swamps areas, usually in North America. It is a light brown colour wood with darker streaks following the grain direction. Its light weight makes it perfect for bodies and it has an excellent tonal response.

Khaya Mahogany

Khaya Mahogany is one of the closest species, for tonal and mechanical properties, to the Honduran Mahogany, now endangered. Colour is variable, ranging from a very pale pink to a deeper reddish brown, sometimes with streaks of medium to dark reddish brown.
It’s usually quite heavy, but it is not difficult to find lighter weight pieces. It is a very stable wood, suitable for necks and bodies, it has a warm tonal response, with a tendency to the mid-low frequencies.

Indian Rosewood

Indian Rosewood is a well known wood for musical instruments. Its resonance properties are incredible and thanks to its stiffness it’s a very stable wood. A good choice for dark fretboards and necks; tops can be nicely figured on slab sawns while bodies need to be chambered due to the heavy weight.
It is now an endangered species and listed on Cites B.

Flamed and Quilted Maple

FLAMED

QUILTED

Flamed and Quilted Maple are not actually species, but are simply description of a figure in the maple grain, wich occours when the tree is constantly compressed in one direction (flamed) or randomly (quilted).
The flames are more pronounced on quarter sawn cuts, while the quilted is more likely to be seen on flat sawns. Therefore flamed maple is very good for necks and fretboards, due to its stiffness and stability, and along with quilted maple on tops and bodies thanks to their very nice figuring.
The wood is hard, reasonably heavy and with tight grain; pretty much neutral on all the frequencies, with a tendency to accentuate the highs.

European Ash

This is an european version of the american swamp ash; the tonal properties are basically the same and the main differencies lie in a bit more density, therefore heavier weight, and a slightly darker colour.

Black Limba

Black Limba has a light yellowish to golden brown colour, with grey to nearly black streaks and veins;
Grain is straight to slightly interlocked, with a uniformly coarse texture, it is not hard finding it also slightly flamed or quilted.
It is a fairly light weight wood with tonal properties similar to mahogany;
perfect for nicely figured dark bodies.